This invention relates to the ability to identify elemental mercury (Hg(0)) in subsurface soils using a soil probe which is driven into the ground. Detection of elemental mercury is important in characterizing possible contamination of current and former industrial sites which utilized mercury.
Current techniques for mercury detection as part of remediation protocols are described in the Vinegar U.S. Pat. No. 6,962,466 entitled “Soil Remediation of Mercury Contamination”. This reference discloses using a neutron logging tool as a subsurface probe to determine mercury concentration. The analytical technique uses a spectral analysis to detect mercury.
The Sausa U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,759,859 and the Theriault 6,147,754 US Patent describe cone-penetrometer based systems that are adapted for subsurface spectral analysis using a laser system to generate ions which are identified based upon a spectrum analysis.
Other techniques for detecting mercury soil contamination involve collecting samples of soil which are subsequently analyzed in a laboratory or other field assay techniques which require returning a soil sample to a surface. As taught by Christy U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,956 special percussion driven probes can be used for the collection of such soil samples at multiple depths. However the operation of such equipment is considered to be labor intensive and time consuming.
Accordingly, there remains room for improvement and variation within the art. It is a primary object of the present invention to allow for the detection of elemental mercury at a subsurface level without bringing a soil sample to the surface.